Does anybody have a pillow I can borrow on Nov. 6?

Wow! Election Day 2024 is three weeks away — a time when we’ll finally know who’s going to lead this country and who will represent us in Congress and lead our local governments.

Many people might assume that day will be a giant letdown for political geeks such as myself. But I’m planning to take a giant week-long nap the week after Election Eay. The huge sigh of relief I’ll let out after Nov. 5 will be so big, I could be in danger of hyperventilating.  

Some of my friends are under the mistaken impression that when our nation and state are in turmoil, that I’m excited — because, as they put it, “it gives you plenty to talk about on the radio!” 

Yikes! I sure hope nobody thinks I’m gleefully rubbing my hands together — happy over our political turmoil — seeing the rifts between neighbors and families that it causes as something that’s a way to achieve my career goals through higher ratings. 

Honestly, “American,” “Arizonan,” “father” and “husband” are much more important titles for me than “media member” … and that means I don’t savor the rancor and nuttiness that seem to surround elections these days.

Look at it this way: we’ve had almost two dozen days in a row of daily heat records in the Valley — which does give me “something to talk about!” Buuuut, I also have to live through that heat — and it’s not pleasant. (Although I must say it’s more pleasant than the cray-cray way candidates and their supporters act these days).

And this election is crazy close: A new ABC News poll has Vice President Kamala Harris up 49-47% nationally over former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, CBS News has Harris up 51-48% nationally and NBC News has them tied at 48% each. (By the way, the leads that Harris enjoys fall within the margin of error for the ABC and CBS polls — so they could be even closer.)

Presidential elections being this close is a trend that’s been around for awhile — but they keep getting closer. In 2016, if the votes of about 60,000 voters changed across three states, Hillary Clinton would’ve beat Donald Trump. In 2020, if only 44,000 voters across three states had voted the other way, Trump wins instead of Joe Biden. That’s 44,000 out of more than 154 million votes! That means less than 0.03% of the electorate decided the last election!

So exhausting to think about, that I want to nap now — but I’m afraid I won’t even be able to take my planned post-election nap because of the more than 200,000 registered voters in Arizona — who, because of an MVD error, didn’t provide the proper documentation to prove they’re eligible to vote. 

Luckily for these folks, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled they can vote in this election — and then election officials will work to determine their eligibility for future elections…

It’s also a lucky break for every loser in the upcoming election… because they will be able to keep fighting the results long after Election Day.

Which is very unlucky news for those of us in the news business who were hoping to not have to report bad news — even for just a few days after Nov. 5.

Follow @JimSharpe